


A Compliment a Day

by janezy



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Between seasons 3 and 4, Blow Jobs, Facials, First Kiss, First Time, M/M, Miscommunication, Prison setting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:13:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7887175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janezy/pseuds/janezy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Daryl needs to learn how to take a compliment and Rick vows to keep trying until he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Compliment a Day

Daryl was given the privilege of being the first person to feed solid food to Judith.  Well, as solid as you could consider rice cereal.  He’d been the first to feed her when she’d been born.  Hell, he’d been feeding her for months before that if you thought about all the times he slipped Lori an extra portion of whatever they’d managed to scrounge up.  It certainly wasn’t for Lori’s benefit.  Besides, Daryl had been the one to search the stores for weeks for the cereal to begin with.

He wasn’t sure how much of a privilege it was, though, when the first bite ended up going in Judith’s mouth and being spit straight back out at a breakneck speed to land in gooey clumps all over his hair.

Practically everyone at the prison had crowded around the small common area to watch the show of Judith’s First Feeding.  Daryl hadn’t minded at first.  He didn’t much care for the attention, but he was so proud of Judith for being ready to eat.  She was growing up so fast.

Daryl ran a dirty rag over his hair.  He could sense everyone getting ready to laugh at him.  He turned to spear Carol with a glare, ignoring her smiling face.  “Think this is so easy, how come you ain’t doin’ it?” he bit out defensively.

“Oh, no,” Carol replied with good humor.  “You’ve got it.  No need for us **both** to get dirty, anyway.”

Judith gurgled a laugh.  “And you,” Daryl said, turning back to her and pointing at her with the spoon, “food is made to go in your mouth, not on me.”  He made a series of silly faces at her that had her giggling up a storm, then slyly slipped a second spoonful to her mouth.  That one actually got swallowed.

Daryl smiled and was silently thankful that he wasn’t as terrible at this as it had seemed at first.  “That’s my good Little Ass-Kicker.  You eat up this food and get strong so’s you can kick ass all day long.”

Rick had been watching at the periphery of the room and came to sit next to Daryl, smiling.  “Should I be concerned about how much you say ‘ass’ around my daughter?”

“Only if you’re tryin’ to be an asshole,” Daryl replied easily.

Rick couldn’t stop the guffaw from coming out.  Daryl was quite pleased with himself.  Rick didn’t laugh nearly enough.  Anything he could do to lighten their leader’s load, he would do it.

“You wanna?” Daryl asked, offering the spoon to Rick.

“Nah,” Rick said.  “I’m sure you’re doing better than I would.  She likes you better, anyway.”

“No, she don’t,” Daryl argued.  “She likes us all the same.”

“Really?  Then how do you explain that the second you enter a room, she turns to you and makes grabby hands?”

Daryl blushed and looked to the floor.  “She just knows that I feed her a lot and she’s hungry.”

“Don’t worry,” Rick said, touching Daryl’s shoulder.  “It don’t hurt my feelings none that she likes you better,” Rick said.  “Hell, even **I** like you better’n me.”

Daryl just grunted and continued feeding Judith.  Rick felt bad that something he meant to be a compliment seemed to have been taken as anything but.  “I’m real grateful to you, you know,” he said, all tone of joking leaving his voice.  “I’m so happy that she has such a great, extended family to help care for her, but you’re the best part.  I know she can rely on you if I’m not there.  Just like we all rely on you every day.”

“We all do our part,” Daryl said, still looking away.

Rick wasn’t sure why Daryl couldn’t just take the compliment, but he filed that away and decided to start giving him a compliment a day until Daryl could just accept them.

~*~

In the weeks that followed, Rick lived up to his promise to himself.  His end of it at least.  He’d tried complimenting Daryl’s strength, his skills, even his wardrobe.  He had yet to get more than blushing and downplaying from Daryl.

One day, Daryl brought back a 10-point buck slung easily over his shoulders, though it had to weigh close to 200 pounds.  Rick opened the gate for him.

“That is great, Daryl,” Rick said admiringly.  “You’re always providin’ for us.”

“Weren’t nothin’,” Daryl said easily.

Rick searched out Daryl’s eyes.  “You make it look easy, but I know it ain’t.  We’ll all have a good meal tonight, thanks to you.  I appreciate it.”

Daryl looked confused.  “Sure thing,” he said awkwardly, and walked off to butcher his kill.

A few days later, Daryl was helping to dig a trench for the irrigation system. 

“Thanks so much for helping with this,” Rick said, digging away next to him.  “It would’a taken me all day by myself.  I know you had watch last night and you’ve got to be tired, but you’re always jumpin’ in to offer help when someone needs it.”

Daryl just kept looking down and digging.  “No big.  You’re gonna be feedin’ us all, soon.”

Rick sighed to himself.  He didn’t want to push too hard, but he needed Daryl to understand how much Rick valued his contributions.

The next day, the group was in the common area discussing their plans to loot a local Wal*Mart.  It had become overrun with walkers in the early days, so most of the inventory was untouched.  There had been plenty of other spots nearby that were easier.  But supplies were getting thin and they had been just about everywhere else.  Daryl was laying out his plan to lure walkers to the back parking lot by hooking up a boom box to a car battery.  Then a group could enter the front while the horde was distracted.

“That is really clever, Daryl” Rick said, patting him on the shoulder.  “Keep comin’ up with those good ideas.”

“That’s it!” Daryl said angrily.  Looking around at the surprised faces, he decided to take this somewhere more private.  “We’ll be right back,” he said, grabbing Rick’s arm and tugging him outside.

“What the hell?” Rick said, crossed between confusion and irritation.  He trusted Daryl and knew he wasn’t going to hurt him, but this seemed like uncharacteristic behavior. 

Daryl kept pulling on Rick’s arm, taking him all the way around the corner to a spot where he was sure they wouldn’t be overheard, then pushed him away. 

“What the hell is right!  What the hell is goin’ on with you lately?” Daryl asked, launching into an absurd imitation of Rick.  “‘Daryl, you’re so strong’, ‘Daryl, you’re so smart’, ‘Daryl, you’re so nice.’ What the fuck are you butterin’ me up for?”

Rick was taken aback.  He had no idea his compliments were making Daryl so angry.  “I ain’t butterin’ you up.  I just wanted to make sure you know how much I appreciate you.”

Daryl scrunched up his face.  “I don’t need you to lie to me.  I’m stayin’.  You ain’t gotta worry about it.”

Rick threw up his hands.  “I’m not lying!  You just can’t take a compliment,” he said, bumping his pointed finger harshly into Daryl’s shoulder.

“I ain’t the one that got us here.  **You’re** the one that’s strong.  **You’re** the one that’s smart.  I know I ain’t nobody special.  I’m just the backup.”

“You ain’t just nothin’,” Rick said passionately, grabbing Daryl’s shoulders and shaking him.  “You could go anywhere.  You’re made for this world.  I couldn’ta done this without you.”

“You would’a been fine,” Daryl said dismissively.

“God damnit!” Rick exclaimed and turned to kick the wall behind him in frustration.  “It’s like talkin’ to a damn wall!”

“Heard that before,” Daryl said.

“Aargh!  What do I have to do to prove it to you?” Rick asked, turning and glaring at Daryl.  “How will you know I’m serious?”

“Are we still fuckin’ talkin’ about this?  It’s ridiculous!  Just stop tryin’ to make me feel good.  I ain’t a china doll.”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause I’m usin’ words,” Rick said, more to himself than Daryl.  Maybe he needed to just **show** Daryl his appreciation somehow.  An idea just popped into his head and he was acting on it before he could even think about it.  He started backing Daryl up into the wall.

“Rick, what are you – ” Daryl started to say, but was cut off by Rick’s lips meeting his.  His hands wound their way into Rick’s hair before he knew what they were doing, but when he realized, he pushed Rick away roughly.

“Rick!  What the fuck, man?!” Daryl said, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

“No talking,” Rick said, pushing back into Daryl’s space.  “That’s our problem.”

“Yeah,” Daryl said sarcastically.  “People are always tellin’ me I talk too much.”  He pushed again at Rick, but not hard enough to move him.  It was clear he wasn’t trying very hard.  He allowed the other man to back him against the wall and groaned when Rick continued walking, pushing against him until they were aligned from shoulder to knee.

“Not you,” Rick said quietly into Daryl’s neck.  “Me.  You value action.  I can do that.”  He kissed Daryl’s neck and Daryl moaned again, moving his head sideways to give Rick more leeway.

Rick could feel Daryl’s hardness pushing into his hip.  He’d never done this before, but it didn’t seem like it would be that hard.  He pulled open the buttons on Daryl’s fly and stuck his hand inside, grasping firmly.

Daryl flinched and Rick relaxed his grip a little, playing up and down the shaft until Daryl threw back his head.  Rick fell down to his knees and Daryl snapped to attention, looking at him in astonishment.

Rick ignored the look and set to work easing Daryl’s pants down to his thighs.  He stared for a few moments at the hard cock in front of him while Daryl just stared at him, wondering what was going to happen next.

Rick slowly eased himself in and kissed the tip of Daryl’s cock, then kissed his way down the shaft, rubbing it with his cheek as he went down.  When his nose was buried in the curls at the base, Rick went back to the tip and did it all over again.

Daryl wasn’t sure what was happening and he didn’t want to break the spell.  The last think Rick had told him was to shut up, so he was going to do just that.  But Rick was driving him crazy.  He took Rick’s curly head in his hands and put it where he needed it. 

Rick opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out a bit, then looked up at Daryl adoringly.  Rick trusted Daryl not to hurt him.  When Daryl put the tip of his cock on Rick’s tongue, Rick sucked it in to his mouth and just kept sucking.

Daryl gasped.  Rick listened to figure out if it was a good gasp or a bad gasp.  Using the sounds Daryl made to guide him, he flubbed his way through his first ever blow job.  He hadn’t been on the receiving end of many, either, since Lori didn’t really care for them.  But he knew a thing or two and tried his best to make it good for Daryl.

When Daryl started pulling on Rick’s hair frantically, Rick reluctantly pulled off.  He used his hands to jack Daryl off the rest of the way and made sure to point his cock right at his own face when it started to spurt.  He wasn’t sure where that impulse had come from, but he knew, as far as actions went, it said a lot more than any words he could have said.

Daryl looked on in amazement, then collapsed to his knees in front of Rick.  Slowly, he reached his hand up and ran his fingers through the come glommed on to Rick’s nose and cheek.

“Why . . .” Daryl started to say, but couldn’t figure out how to finish the sentence.

“You wouldn’t believe my words,” Rick said.  “Do you believe me now?”

Daryl nodded dumbly and continued to rub at the come on Rick’s face, fascinated.

“Okay, then,” Rick said decisively and stood up, reaching in to his back pocket to retrieve a rag.  He made a face at the cooling come he rubbed off his face.  “Did I get it all?” he asked Daryl.

Daryl stood and brushed a hand over Rick’s now clean cheek and into his hair.  “Uh-huh,” he said, pulling Rick into a kiss.  He eased his other hand down Rick’s chest, intent on returning the favor, but was stopped by Rick’s hand.

Rick broke off the kiss and leaned his forehead against Daryl’s.  “Not right now,” he said regretfully.  “We got a bunch of people waitin’ on us.  Remember?”

“They can keep on waitin’,” Daryl said.

Rick sighed and stepped back.  “So can I,” he said, and Daryl eyed his crotch with one eyebrow raised.

Rick chuckled.  “It’s hardly the first time I’ve had to ignore a hard on around you.”

Daryl’s other eyebrow went up.  How long had Rick been into him and why had he never noticed?

“You know, you **can** talk again,” Rick said.

“Seems like we were doin’ better without words,” Daryl said quietly.

Rick laughed heartily.  “I think you’re right.  That was my mistake.  I won’t make it again.  Let’s finish this plan and get going.”  Rick grasped his fingers gently and swung their hands.  “Will you join me in my cell tonight?” Rick asked hopefully.

Daryl nodded and leaned in to deliver a quick peck on Rick’s lips, then used their joined hands to guide Rick back toward the entrance to the cell block.

Rick wasn’t sure who had convinced Daryl he was so worthless that he couldn’t believe anything good about himself.  But Rick vowed to continue working on showing Daryl how much he was appreciated and admired until he believed it.  He’d just learn how to do it without words.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. This work is un-beta'd. Feel free to point out any mistakes. If there is something I should have tagged that I forgot, let me know that, too.
> 
> This original work is in no way meant to be an infringement on the copyrights of the show or the comic and no attempt for profit is being made. Please don't sue me. I'm poor.
> 
> Please do not archive anywhere without my permission.


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